City council member charged in wife's drowning

Thursday, January 10, 2013

HART, Mich. (AP) — A city council member in a small West Michigan community has been charged with open murder in the bathtub drowning of his wife that was initially reported to authorities as an accident.

Timothy Shannon, 34, of Hart, was arraigned Wednesday in the Dec. 29 death of 34-year-old Lee-Ann Shannon, The Ludington Daily News and The Muskegon Chronicle reported. He was ordered held without bond and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Jan. 14.

The Oceana County sheriff’s department said Thursday it didn’t know whether he had a lawyer on record. Martha Ann Piegols, of Hart, who identified herself as Timothy Shannon’s grandmother, said she “had no thoughts” about his arrest.

Shannon, who has served on city council since 2011, told police the morning of Dec. 29 that his wife had accidentally drowned at their home in the Oceana County community, about 60 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. Family members of Lee-Ann Shannon, however, raised questions about the death with investigators.

Shannon was detained following a Tuesday interview with investigators.

“It is believed the suspect drowned the victim in the tub and attempted to report it as an accidental drowning,” Oceana County sheriff’s Lt. Craig Mast said.

Police in Hart handled the case along with the sheriff’s department. Specifics about the circumstances surround the death weren’t immediately released.

The Shannons were married in 2006 and have two children, ages 3 and 4. Lee-Ann Shannon was a graduate of Spring Arbor College, earning her bachelor’s degree in early education. She volunteered at Hart Public Schools’ Early Childhood Center.